Duchal Moor Railway
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 Switch in front of the engine shed
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| Route length: | 8 kilometers |
| Gauge : | 2 feet = 610 mm |
The Duchal Moor Railway or Grouse Moor Line was an approximately eight kilometer long narrow gauge railway with a two- foot (610 mm) gauge near the Muirshiel Hills in Duchal Moor in the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park , 5 km west of Kilmacolm in Scotland .
history
The narrow-gauge railway was built by the shipbuilder Sir James Lithgow, 1st Baronet, for the transport of groups of drivers and hunters during driven hunts and their equipment. After the First World War, unemployed shipyard workers were to find employment through the construction project .
The railway line was used annually between August 12th, the beginning of the hunting season , known as the Glorious Twelfth , for grouse hunting, and the end of the season in mid-December, to bring hunting parties to the hills of the several hundred acres of swampy moorland.
The tracks were built from track material from old military field railways and coal mines, with sleepers made from beams obtained from the dismantling of warships.
Routing
The rail line started at Hardridge Farm, where the locomotives and passenger cars were stored. It had three branches: Laverock Stone in the north, Laird's Seat in the west, and Smeath Hill in the south.
Locomotives
In 1922 two gasoline locomotives, each with 20 hp, were procured for the Motor Rail & Tramcar Company from Bedford with the serial numbers 2097 and 2171. In September 1969, a two-axle diesel locomotive with 20/28 hp from the year of construction 1941 with the serial number 8700 was purchased from Joseph Arnold Ltd's sand pits on the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway .
remains
The railway was taken out of service in the late 1970s. The engine shed was still preserved in 2008 and there are still some remains of bridges, platforms and tracks on site.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Duchal Moor railway
- ^ Duchal House - Historic Scotland
- ^ Duchal Railway on Happy Haggis
- ^ Duchal Moor Railway on Secret Scotland
Coordinates: 55 ° 52 ′ 48 ″ N , 4 ° 38 ′ 24 ″ W.